Pirelli's on a Porsche

[synormin]

The car is a plain Jane 1976 911S currently running 205/55x16 Continental Sport Contact 2's on 16"x6" Fuchs. I've experimented with 16"x7" Fuchs out back with 225/50x16 tires (SC fitment) but get light tire contact in the wheel housing (when cornering hard or hard acceleration) even though the fenders have been rolled. I don't want to alter my ride height, currently Euro spec height nor do I want to change the rear geometry to accommodate the wider tires. It's a bummer because the car feels/handles better with the staggered arrangement! On to my question....since it looks like I'm going to stick with the 16"x6"'s all the way around, would it be odd to put the directional Pirelli Pzero System tire on all four corners? Typically you would see the directional Pirelli up front and the asymmetric version on the rear (in a staggered fitment) or the asymmetric on all four corners in a non-staggered fitment. Thoughts, please!

 

[CapriRacer]

As you are probably aware, your car has a problem with the tail staying behind in certain circumstances. For this reason, Porsche now tests tires and approves them for fitment. Approved tires carry an "N" specifcation - as in N0,N1, N2, etc. These are ALWAYS identical tires except for size.

Unfortunately, your Porsche is too old to benefit from such testing. But it seems risky to use different lines of tires even within the same brand.

Given your problems with rubbing, it sounds like you ought to stick with a non-staggered fitment.

 

[synormin]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
As you are probably aware, your car has a problem with the tail staying behind in certain circumstances. For this reason, Porsche now tests tires and approves them for fitment. Approved tires carry an "N" specifcation - as in N0,N1, N2, etc. These are ALWAYS identical tires except for size.

Unfortunately, your Porsche is too old to benefit from such testing. But it seems risky to use different lines of tires even within the same brand.

Given your problems with rubbing, it sounds like you ought to stick with a non-staggered fitment.

These particular Pirelli tires I'm looking at are designed to be used together, I've just never seen anyone run the directional version on both axles. They carry the Porsche approval, N-designation.

 

[rshunter]

I think I'd run the idea by Pirelli before I tried it. The PZero System was engineered to have the directional tire used on the front only. According to Pirelli, only the asymmetric tire was intended for all-position use. Just what impact the design focus had on the directional tire's capabilities as a drive tire is known only to Pirelli.

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: synormin
These particular Pirelli tires I'm looking at are designed to be used together, I've just never seen anyone run the directional version on both axles. They carry the Porsche approval, N-designation.


You have to be careful here. Porsche approves these tires by size - or in the case of staggered fitments, by size combination. They do not approve the entire line.

So if we look at the tire lines you mentioned in Tire Rack, the 205/55R16 Pirelli PZero System has an N3 designation - and it is directional - but it doesn't list a 225/50R16 at all.

The only Pirelli available in 225/50R16 is a PZero Nero M&S and while that tire also comes in a 205/55R16, neither has an N rating.

 

[synormin]

Thank you guys for your responses.